In the latest episode of her “After Dinner Thinks With Ann Wilson” podcast, HEART singer Ann Wilson addressed the fact that she has been performing while sitting in a wheelchair during the first few shows of the 2025 North American leg of the band’s “Royal Flush” tour, which kicked off Friday night (February 28) at the BleauLive Theater in Las Vegas. The show marked HEART‘s first live performance since the band postponed the remaining dates of its 2024 North American tour in July in order for Ann to undergo cancer treatments. Ann said:  ”I think some people thought that I was in a wheelchair because of cancer, which I just kicked its ass and I’m nice and clear now. It’s not about cancer. It’s about me being a klutz five days before the tour and missing a step and falling into a parking lot and busting my elbow in three places and then having to have it pinned back together with screws and all that kind of stuff.”

Ann continued: “In other ways, I’m perfectly fine. It’s just I don’t have the use of my left arm right now. So it’s hard to navigate when you just have one hand and your other whole arm is in a sling… And you don’t have the same balance. So I had to get used to that. And singing on stage, I really think that the pain level is still way too high for me to take it out of the sling. So I chose to sit because then I can just concentrate on singing and not on keeping my balance and having somebody out there catching me when I reel to the side.”

Regarding the fact that some HEART fans have expressed their disappointment to see Wilson in a wheelchair, she said: “I’ve gotten so many suggestions, like ‘Make it look like a throne.’

“I think it’s looked on as some kind of an admission of vulnerability,” she added about her decision to perform while sitting in a wheelchair. “And we have to look at the person and go, ‘Oh, that’s too bad’ and bring negativity into it. It doesn’t have to be that way. No, it’s a great tool. And I’ll be up and out of it after a while.”

Wilson went on to say that her arm “just hurts too much” for her to be standing right now. “Yeah, there’s pain involved with this injury,” she explained.

Referencing some of her other recent health ailments, Ann said: “This is number three. First I had my knees done, then I had cancer, now I have the elbow. So that’s gonna be it.”